My Training Programme.

GCSE Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Andrea Dobson 5.T

My Training Programme

The level of physical fitness is necessary to take on the demands of regular sporting activities. Although we may be fit from a health related point of view we may not be fit for sport.The purpose and aim of my training programme will be to work over a period of six weeks to improve my overall fitness and particularly my muscular endurance and strength for my chosen sport which is horse riding. I will be using circuit training, and jogging mainly in the programme but I will incorporate a bit of swimming into it to help build up the strength in my muscles and also stamina. Having this bit of variety in my programme will also help to prevent the tedium that may occur whilst training.

Before embarking on my training programme, I need to know what my general fitness level is. With this and taking my chosen activity into account I will be able to design an appropriate programme with the right amount and type of training.

At the present time my current level of fitness has decreased from its usual level, as I have not been attending the usual sports practices I would normally do. At the moment I would get the bus up to the stables and walk briskly for the ten minutes to the yard, then ride for up to an hour everyday, also working with the horse before and after actually getting on. I take part in sports in class without any problem and I'm never pushed by these activities. But this is all, I would have usually attended two athletics practices a week or Netball practices on top of this, but due to other commitments this has stopped. We did some fitness tests not long ago just as I had stopped my extra sports activities. I was testing speed, agility, balance, coordination, reaction time and the various components of strength. These were my results:

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I'm aware that safety is very important in any sport or training that you do. This is to prevent injury, whether that is minor, irreversible or even fatal as some sports can be. Safety is not only for you but others too so if you are irresponsible it could result in someone else being injured, not just you. One of the main things in sport is a good warm up and cool down. The warm up should include: a gentle exercise for the whole body, such as light jogging-this gradually increases heart rate, breathing and blood supply to the muscles, it also warms up our muscles and prepares us mentally for the session. Gentle stretching to prepare muscles, ligaments and joints, and practicing techniques and skills that might be used in the session should all be completed at this point.

Then the cool down should be done after the session to avoid going from hard exercise immediately to rest. The light exercise will: shorten the recovery time by removing carbon dioxide, lactic acid and other waste products, keeps the blood circulating well through the body and prevents the blood pressure from lowering too much which may cause dizziness. The slow decrease in exercise will prevent muscle soreness and stiffness.

Warm up and cool down are not the only safety points we have to take into consideration though, the correct clothing and equipment are also very important. People should wear clothes that are comfortable and safe. Some sports may require protective equipment such as shin pads in football, helmets for horse riding and padding for the batters in cricket. Footwear should be comfortable and safely support the foot, also no jewelry should be worn to save it catching on clothing or equipment and ripping your skin.

Also we must think about the equipment we use. We need to learn how to use pieces of equipment properly so we don't damage it or harm ourselves. For example we must take special care when using free weight not attached to a machine, as they can cause injury if not lifted, carried or placed down in the safe manner in which you should have been taught.

The activities have to be varied around the circuit according to the muscles groups you are using at each station e.g. press-ups shouldn’t be followed by tricep dips, or abdominal exercises like sit ups shouldn’t be followed by crunches. A recovery period will be allowed between exercises, so quality work can be achieved and I can successfully complete the circuit.

For steady progress and to avoid injury through our training we should follow the S.P.O.R.T principles.

Specificity is making the training specific to the sport you play e.g. Sprinters would do a lot of speed work in their training to help the fast twitch muscle fibers top develop, and endurance athletes would train over long distance for long amounts of time to develop their slow twitch fibers. We must always use a training programme that puts regular stress on the muscle groups or body system that we want to develop. So I will be developing all my muscle groups that will help me improve balance and posture, and my endurance for exerting large amounts of power over long periods of time. This will be incorporated into my my circuit training.

Progression is when we build up the stress in our bodies in a gradual or progressive way. If it is done too quickly it may cause injury or mentally make us want to give up, but if you do it too slowly we may become disinterested or bored. Our training thresholds will tell us if we are training at the right level. I will be increasing the time I spend jogging and as I find the time easier I will increase the speed, I will also increase the number of times I do a training circuit over the six weeks. I will know this, as I will be measuring my heart rate after every session. This is to work out if I am working in the desired training affect by finding what percentage of my MHR I’m working at. My maximum heart rate is 220-15= 205 bpm.

I know that throughout my training programme I will always want to work over 60% of my MHR as this is the aerobic threshold and if I work below this there will be no training affect. I will be planning to work at about 80% of my MHR in the aerobic training zone as most of my programme will be endurance such as running and swimming.

Overload. To improve the fitness of our body systems we need to work them harder than normal at different intensities. The body will then adapt to the extra stress and we will become fitter. We can overload our bodies by training more often, by working harder or by spending more time on exercise.

Reversibility is when our muscles are not used and atrophy occurs-they waste away. We cannot store fitness for the future, as it will disappear if we stop training. It will take just a few weeks- about 3-4 for our body to start losing condition.

Tedium-boredom can be avoided by varying our training programme by using a variety of different training methods that will keep our enthusiasm and motivation.

My training programme is appropriate to my needs because it incorporates what I already do and more. The extra sessions of exercise are built up slowly using progression so I get the effect that I wish for. As my sport is horse riding I need to have very good balance and posture to look good and stay on, which is aquired by strong, toned muscles which I will be working to improve in my circuit training. I need the strength in my muscles to control the horse underneath me and the stamina to go for long periods of time using great bursts of power, these bursts of power and extra stamina is where the swimming and running will be improving as I will be continuosly working a variety of muscles for long periods of time improving my aerobic fitness. I believe this programme will help me to increase what I already have in all of these factors.